Indenting type crimping tool



Jan. 19, 1965 H. c. sToL'rz 3,166,114

' n INDENTING TYPE: CRIMPING TOOL Filed Aug. 29, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 19, 1965 ||.c:.s1o| 1'z 3,155,114

INDENTING TYPE cRIMPING Tool.

Filed Aug. 29, 1961 3 sheets-sheet s ew '96 L 61% W lol A es N0 o ma 3o I. Q-ua 36 Mm R ae s no Lw H. c. sToLrz 3,166,114

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INDENTING TYPE CRIMPING TOOL Jan. 19, 1965 Filed Aug. 29. 1961 United States Patent 3,166,114 INDEN'I'ING TYPE CRIMPING TOOL Herbert C. Stoltz, Hershey, Pa., assigner to .il1

Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa. Filed Aug. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 134,717 4 Claims. (Cl. 153-1) with tools of this type was the achievement of a sym metrical crimp having all of the indentations of substantially the same depth. The connectors themselves are relatively small so that extremelyv close and careful control of the indentors is necessary `in order to avoid any departures from cross sectional symmetry in the finished crimp. If the indentations are not evenly spaced and of the same depth, the performance of the crimp is less than optimum. One method of achieving a perfectly symmetrical crimp of this type is to manufacture the tool to extremely close tolerances and thereby control the travel of the indentors Within extremely close limits. This solution has the comparative disadvantage of requiring careful workmanship and precisely dimensioned parts with the result of high manufacturing cost. Furthermore, the achievement of a symmetrical crimp with the prior art tools usually requires precise positioning of the connector in the tool and a departure from perfect symmetry will result if such careful positioning is not achieved.

lt is an object of the present invention to provide an improved indentation type crimping tool. A further object is to provide an indenting type crimping tool which will produce a substantially symmetrical crimp between the connectors and the wire. A still further object is to provide a crimping tool having a plurality of indentors for indenting an electrical connector in which a positive stop is provided for each indentor thereby to control its travel and providing also an actuating means for the indentors which is deferential to the stops.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment comprising a pair of normally abutting blocks having semi-circular openings in their abutting surfaces which define an opening for an electrical connector. A plurality of indentors are movable through radial openings in these blocks and into the central openings thereby to 4indent the connector contained therein. The amount of travel of each indentor is controlled by a precisely positioned stop which prevents its being driven beyond a predetermined position so that the precise amount of indentation achieved by each indentor can be exactly and precisely controlled. The indentors are driven inwardly by means of levers pivoted intermediate their ends which levers are rocked about their pivotal axes by a reciprocabie cam having a conical surface so that as the cam moves relatively towards the indentors, the levers are rocked in a manner such that the indentors are driven towards the connector. This cam is capable of limited lateral movement during its movement towards the indentors so that if any one or more of the indentors should bottom or come against its stop prior to the other indentors, the cam will shift itself laterally and continue to drive the remaining indentors inwardly but it will not drive the previously stopped indentor further. In this Ince manner, the actu-ating means is deferential to the stops which control the movement at the indentors.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away of a tool in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side view with parts brokenaway of theembodiment of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a View taken along the lines l3--3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a View taken along the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective inverted view showing one of the indentor housings of the preferred embodiment.

FIGURE 6 is an exploded view'of the sub-assembly of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional view showing the ends of the actuating levers and their relationship to the indentors.

Referring first to FIGURES 1 3, the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a cylindrical housing 2 having an end wall 4 through which a rod 6 extends. This rod has an enlarged tting 8 on its end which receives a threadedV coupling ,on theend of a supply hose 10 through which motive fluid, preferably compressedair,

is conveyed. A passageway 12 extends axially through the fitting 8 and into the rod for a short distance and lateral passageways 14 extend from passageway 12 to the interior of the cylinder 2. Compressed air is supplied to, and exhausted from, the interior of the cylinder through this hose and the passageways by means of a suitabie system of control valves, lnot specifically shown.

A piston 16 is slidably mounted on the rod 6 and has a peripheral flange 18 extending axially within the cylinder and bearing against the interior walls thereof. A cam 2t) is loosely and slidably mounted on the rod 6 and has a conical surface 21 which slopes toward the axis of the tool. This cam is normally biased lto the position shown in FIGURE 2, that is against a boss 22 on the piston 16, by means of a coil spring 24 which surrounds the rod 6 and bears against a slidable guide 26 positioned between the spring and the cam. At its opposite end, the spring 24 is received within a recess in a plate 28 threaded at 30 to the end vof the rod 6. It will be apparent from the description thus far that this plate and the rod 6 need not be secured to the cylinder 2 but that the parts will be maintained in the position shown by virtue of the effect of the spring. Y

The plate 28 has four evenly spaced radially extending slots 32 and the upper side of the plate as viewed in FIGURE 2 has ears 34 extending therefrom on each side of each of the slots. Levers 36 are pivotally mounted between these ears at 38, the rearward or lower ends of these levers 40 being bifurcated and having cam followers in the form of rollers 39 mounted thereon for co` operation with the conical surface 21 of cam 20. These lower ends of the levers are connected by contractile springs 37 which maintain the cam followers against the surface of the cam. The forward or upper ends 44 of the levers extend beyond the plate 28 and, as shown in FIGURE 7, are received in the open ends of indentors 45 so that upon rocking movement of the levers about their pivotal axes 38, the four indentors are simultaneously driven radially towards a common center to indent a connector.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, each indentor 45 is gen erally cylindrical in its intermediate section 46 andhas a shoulder 48 and a reduced end section 50 at one end thereof. An indenting protrusion 52 extends from this reduced end and penetrates the connector during thev from FIGURE 9, the kend 44 of`each lever is advantageously rounded and is received betweenthe base of the slot 54 and the pin. y Y v The indentors are slidably mounted in a pair of generally semi-cylindrical indentor housings 58,v 58 which are located and'secured in the upper end of the cylinder 2 by means of suitable fasteners. 65 and aliange 66. Since these two housings are substantial mirror images of each other, a description of one will sutlice for both and only-the housing which appears on the right-in FIG- URES 3 and 4 will be described in detail. Similar reference numerals will be used for corresponding parts of -both housings but prime marks will be employed to differentiate the parts of the housing on the left in FIG- URE 3.

The housing 58 has a generally V-shaped recess 60 extending inwardly from its face 59. Two radial Yopenings 62 extend inwardly from the cylindrical surface 63 to this recess on each side of its apex, these openings being of asize suicient slidably to accommodate the large diameter 46 of the indentors'. Radially extending slots 64 in the. surface 67 of the blockv communicate with the openings .62`for theaccommodationof the ends 44 of the levers as shown in FIGURE 7, theseA slots being of a length Vsuftcie'nt to permit the rocking motion of the levers by means of which the indentors are moved. A triangular clamping kblock 68 is disposed within the recess 60 and has an extension 70 on its apex which is slidably received within a groove 74 extending radially from the apex .of the recess. This groove is of a width sucient to receive the base portion 72 of the extension 70 which is of stepped construction as Vshown at 73. Locking plates S4, secured to the upper surface of. the block 58, overlap the extension and hold it and the triangular block in position. yThese locking plates.

VVare spaced apart from each other and the central portion of the extensionw) is received between the opposed sides of these plates. A pocket. 76 is formed in ythe block 58 beneath the groove 74 for vthe accommodation of a coil spring`77 which normally urges the block 68 radially .inwardly `so that the two clamping blocks 68,V

68 are normally held against each other although they are movable away from each other to permit feeding .of a belt containing connectors.

A transverse, slot Y7,8 extendsacross the clamping block V68 from, its opposed sides and opens onto the face 80.

This slot is of a Width sucient to permit the inward movement of the reduced cross sectional end portion 5t) of the indentors. Semi-circular recesses 82, 83 are provided on the surface'StB which, when the blocks 68, 68 are against each other deine circular openings for the terminal which is being crimped and for the terminal which was crimped during the previous operating cycle. It will be apparent from FIGURE 7 that the indentors are driven radially towards the geometric center of the opening defined by the recesses 82, 82 when the blocks are againstv each other.

A cam 88 is pivotally mounted on a pin 90 on the extension 70 of the clamping block and provides a rearwardly extending arm to which one end of a spring 92 is attached. The opposite end of this spring is anchored on a ange on the end of a stop 91 so that the cam 88 as viewed in FIGURE 4 is normally biased in a clockwise direction. The clockwise movement of this cam is limited by means of a stop pin 86 in extension 70 and V.adjacent to the previously .mentioned pin 90. It willV be apparent then that the lcam 88 can be .moved in a counterclockwise.direction from its position as shown but can not be movedV in a clockwise position. Y

. The side'of the 'cam 88 which is adjacent to the meeting faces of .the clamping blocks 68, 68 has a shoulder 94 which is adapted to kbe engaged byone side of an oscillable plate 96. ADuring an initial portion of the Yoperating `cycleY this; plateis rotated about a pivotal axis as described below and moved relatively downwardly from the position shown in FIGURE 4 until it is past thevcenter line of the tool and past the pin 90. During such movement it rotates the cam 88 in a counterclockwise direction. During a subsequent portion of the operating cycle, the plate moves relatively upwardly to its position of FIGURE 4 and the bevelled surface 100 on its upper sideengages the rounded surface of cam 88 and Vtends torotate it in a. clockwise direction. Since, however, this cam cannot be rotated in such a direction by virtue of the presence of pin 86, the entire cam and Vthe clamping block itself are moved rightwardlyfrom i the position shown Vin FIGURE 4. This has the effect of moving this clamping block 68 away from its clamping position with respect to the Ybelt upon which the terminals are mounted. The left-handy clamping block 68 is similarly moved by means of the cam plate 96 acting through the cam 88. As previously mentioned the two cam plates and the associated structure are substantially mirror images of each other, a fact which will readily be apparent from an inspection of FIGURE 4.

When the two clamping blocks 68, 68 are against each other and in clamping engagement with the belt, theirabutting facesshould be in precise parallel alignment with-the center of the tool so that the uncrimped terminal will be in alignment with the wire entrance guides 61, 61' in housings 5S, 58. A stop in the form of a bar 91 is provided on housing 58 to ensure such positioning of the clamping blocks. This stop is held in position by fasteners 93 which secure the plates 84 to the housing and .extends across the ktop surface .of extension 70 of the clamping block. A pin 95 in extension 70. normally abuts this stop and limits the travel of clamping block 68 towards its counterpart 68. Block 68 has a similar stop bar to limit its travel towards the axis of the tool.

The plate 96 is secured to a jack shaft 98 which extends transversely across the uppersurface of the dividing plate 28, FIGURE 3. Shaft 98 is rotatably supported in bearing brackets V102, 102 secured to the upper surface of the plate 28 on each side of the axis of the cylinder. mounted thereon having a generally arcuate arm 106 (FIGURE 2) which extends downwardly toward the surface of the plate 28. rI'he end .of this dog is adapted to be engaged by the end of a rod 10S `which is slidably mounted in a guide 112 in plate 28. Rod 108 is normally biased downwardly as viewed in FIGURE 2 by means of a helical spring 114 whichy surrounds the rod and bears Vagainst an. enlargedcollar 116 on .its lower end. This collar rests against the lip of flange 18 of the piston 16 so that upon upward movement of the piston, the rod is also moved upwardly towards the frontal end of the tool. This movement, in turn, causes the dog 184 to be rotated in a counterolockwise direction as viewed in FIG- URE 3 thereby rotating the jack shaft 98 in a counterclockwisefdirection and oscillating the plate 96 in the piston 16, the shaft is oscillated in the opposite direction (clockwise as vviewed in FIGURE 3.) by a spring 109.`

This spring is contained in a housing 107 in plate 28 and .acts through a plunger 111 on the arm 106 of dog 104.`

Spring. 109 is compressed during the first portion of the cycle as ythe shaft'is rotated by rod 168 and the energy thus stored-is expended to return the shaft to its initial position during the secondV portion ofthe half of the operating cycle.. y

During each cycle of'operation of the tool the belt is fedfor advanced a distance equal to the spacing between adjacent terminals T by means of a feed mechanism generally indicated at 118. This feedmechanism is reciprocated by the plate 96 whichy engages pin 140 by means of slot 142. The feed mechanism Yitself formsl no part of the present invention Vand will not be described in detail The right-hand end of shaft 98 has a dog l104 here. Reference is made to the copending application of Herbert C. Stoltz, Serial No. 134,716, filed August 29, 1961, for a complete disclosure of this feeding device.

In use, air is admitted to the lower end of the housing beneath the piston 16 by means ofV a suitable control Valve to drive the piston upwardly as viewed in FIG- URES 2 and 3. The cam 20 is carried upwardly with the piston and' rocks the levers 36 about their pivotal axes 38. This rocking motion of the levers drives the indentors inwardly towards the connector in the opening between the clamping plates and thereby crimps the connector onto the conductor. As pointed out above, each indentor can travel inwardly only until its shoulder 48 moves against the sides of the block 68 which functions as a positive stop limiting the radial inward movement of the indentors. If, by any reason, one of the indentors should engage its positive stop prior to bottoming of the other indentors, the cam 20 will adjust itself by moving laterally so that the lever associated with the indentor which has reached its stop will remain stationary and the remaining three levers will continue to be rocked until their indentors Zare also rocked against their respective stops. By virtue of this arrangement, only the indentors themselves and the blocks 68 need be made to the close tolerances required to achieve a symmetrical crimp with indentations of equal depth. In other words, each individual indentor must be carefully dimensioned so that when it bottoms against the block 68 it will have penetrated the connector to the proper extent. However, it is not necessary to manufacture the levers or the cam 2i) with equal precision since these actuating members will adapt themselves to the bottoming of the indentors if such bottoming does not take place simultaneously for all four indentors. In effect then, the need for precision and careful machining of a tool in accordance with the invention is limited to the indentors themselves or the stops with which they are associated.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only. ri`he actual scope of the invention is intended to be dened in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective against the prior l art.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for indenting electrical connectors, comprising, a housing, a plurality of indentors radially spaced around, and movable towards and away from, a common center in said housing, means at said common center for holding an uncrimped connector, stop means engageable with each of said indentors for limiting the degree of penetration of said connector, and actuating means for driving each of said indentors towards said comrnon center, said actuating means for each of said indentors comprising a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends, one end of said lever being in engagement with its indentor, a reciprocable cam engaging the opposite' end of each of said levers, said cam being relatively movable towards said common center to rock each of said levers and thereby drive each of saidl indentors towards said common center, said cam` being capable of limited` movement transversely of its path of reciprocation whereby, said cam yields with respect to one of said levers if the indentor associated with said one lever engages its respective stop means and said connector isindented by each of said indentors only to the extent permitted by said stop means.

2. Apparatus for ndenting electrical connectors comprising, a cylindrical housing, connector holding means at one end of said housing for holding an electrical connector coaxially with respect to said housing, a plurality of indentors in said one end radially movable towards and away from said holding means, stop means for each'indentor limiting the movement thereof towards said Vholding means, a cam in said housing movable along the axis thereof and towards said connector holding means, a plurality of levers in said housing each having one end in engagement with one of said indentors and having its opposite end in engagement with said cam whereby, upon movement of ysaid cam, said levers are rocked and said indentors are driven towands said holding means, said cam being laterally movable with respect to its path of reciprocation whereby, upon engagement of one of said indentors with its respective stop means, said cam moves laterally in deference to said one stop means and said one indentor remains stationary while `the remaining indentors continue to move towards said holding means.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein'said cam is of conical form with its base remote from said indentors, a rod extending axiallyin said housing, said cam being loosely mounted on said rod thereby to permit said lateral movement of said cam.

4. Apparatus for indenting electrical connectors comprising, a cylindrical housing, connector holding means at one end of said housing for holding an electrical connector coaxially with respect to said housing, ya plurality of indentors inV said one end radially movable towards i the other end of each lever bearing against saidvcam` whereby, upon movement of said cam towards said indentors, said levers move said indentors radially towards said connector holding means, said cam means being laterally movable by virtue of its loose mounting on said rod thereby to permit said cam to yield to one of said levers if the indentor associated with said one to rest against its stop means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED srATEs PATENTS Penfoild Apr. 2l, 1942 Rosenthal v Feb. 13, 1945 lever comes j 

1. APPARATUS FOR INDENTING ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS, COMPRISING, A HOUSING, A PLURALITY OF INDENTORS RADIALLY SPACED AROUND, AND MOVABLE TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM, A COMMON CENTER IN SAID HOUSING, MEANS AT SAID COMMON CENTER FOR HOLDING AN UNCRIMPED CONNECTOR, STOP MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH EACH OF SAID INDENTORS FOR LIMITING THE DEGREE OF PENETRATION OF SAID CONNECTOR, AND ACTUATING MEANS FOR DRIVING EACH OF SAID INDENTORS TOWARDS SAID COMMON CENTER, SAID ACTUATING MEANS FOR EACH OF SAID INDENTORS COMPRISING A LEVER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS, ONE END OF SAID LEVER BEING IN ENGAGEMENT WITH ITS INDENTOR, A RECIPROCABLE CAM ENGAGING THE OPPOSITE END OF EACH OF SAID LEVERS, SAID CAM BEING RELATIVELY MOVABLE TOWARDS SAID COMMON CENTER TO ROCK EACH OF SAID LEVERS AND THEREBY DRIVE EACH OF SAID INDENTORS TOWARDS SAID COMMON CENTER, SAID CAM BEING CAPABLE OF LIMITED MOVEMENT TRANSVERSELY OF ITS PATH OF RECIPROCATION WHEREBY, SAID CAM YIELDS WITH RESPECT TO ONE OF SAID LEVERS IF THE INDENTOR ASSOCIATED WITH SAID ONE LEVER ENGAGES ITS RE- 